Contributed by: Philip S. Bernstein, Aharon N. Varady (transcription)
This prayer by Rabbi Philip S. Bernstein, then President of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, was included in the anthology, The Prayer Book of the Armed Forces (ed. Daniel A. Poling, 1951), p. 11. . . .
Contributed by: Avraham Samuel Soltes, Aharon N. Varady (transcription)
A prayer offered at a ceremony honoring the graduated of the New Jersey State Teachers’ College in Newark in 1951. . . .
Contributed by: Avraham Samuel Soltes, Aharon N. Varady (transcription)
A prayer for Brotherhood Week, written in 1951. . . .
Contributed by: Avraham Samuel Soltes, Aharon N. Varady (transcription)
A prayer to provide some relief and comfort tor an ill patient. . . .
Contributed by: John Paul Williams, Eugene Kohn, Mordecai Kaplan, Aharon N. Varady (transcription)
This opening prayer for Washington’s Birthday, “The Significance of the Day,” as first published in The Faith of America: Readings, Songs, and Prayers for the Celebration of American Holidays (Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation 1951). . . .
Contributed by: John Paul Williams, Eugene Kohn, Mordecai Kaplan, Aharon N. Varady (transcription)
This closing prayer for Washington’s Birthday as first published in The Faith of America: Readings, Songs, and Prayers for the Celebration of American Holidays (Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation 1951). . . .
Contributed by: Eugene Kohn, John Paul Williams, Mordecai Kaplan, Aharon N. Varady (transcription)
“Dignity of Labor” is a prayer for Labor Day first published in The Faith of America: Readings, Songs, and Prayers for the Celebration of American Holidays (Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation 1951), p.176-177. . . .
Contributed by: Eugene Kohn, John Paul Williams, Mordecai Kaplan, Aharon N. Varady (transcription)
“Opening Prayer on the Significance of [Labor] Day” was first published in The Faith of America: Readings, Songs, and Prayers for the Celebration of American Holidays (Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation 1951), p.165. . . .
Contributed by: Julius Klein, Jewish War Veterans of the United States of America, Aharon N. Varady (transcription)
This prayer by Brigadier General Julius Klein was included in the anthology, The Prayer Book of the Armed Forces (ed. Daniel A. Poling, 1951), p. 47. The anthology notes that “Accompanying the prayer of General Klein, National Commander of Jewish War Veterans, U.S.A., is this message: ‘I wish to express the deep-seated conviction that this book of prayers will be warmly received by a world which is very much in need of closer contact with God.’” . . .
Contributed by: John Paul Williams, Eugene Kohn, Mordecai Kaplan, Aharon N. Varady (transcription)
This opening prayer for United Nations Day, “The Significance of the Day,” was first published in The Faith of America: Readings, Songs, and Prayers for the Celebration of American Holidays (Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation 1951), p. 249-250. . . .
Contributed by: John Paul Williams, Eugene Kohn, Mordecai Kaplan, Aharon N. Varady (transcription)
“War Can Be Abolished,” was first published in The Faith of America: Readings, Songs, and Prayers for the Celebration of American Holidays (Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation 1951), p. 262-265. . . .
Contributed by: Avraham Samuel Soltes, Aharon N. Varady (transcription)
A prayer for American democracy as enshrined in Little League Baseball. . . .
Contributed by: Avraham Samuel Soltes, Aharon N. Varady (transcription)
A prayer anticipating the spring as a metaphor for liberation, mental wellness, and spiritual rebirth. . . .
Contributed by: Avraham Samuel Soltes, Aharon N. Varady (transcription)
A prayer “in spring” that uses the metaphor of mining for seeking out the goodness in one’s fellow. . . .
Contributed by: Arthur T. Buch, the Congressional Record of the United States of America, Aharon N. Varady (transcription)
The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. House of Representatives on 25 April 1951. . . .
Contributed by: Eugene Kohn, John Paul Williams, Mordecai Kaplan, Aharon N. Varady (transcription)
This opening prayer for New Year’s Day, “The Significance of the Day,” was first published in The Faith of America: Readings, Songs, and Prayers for the Celebration of American Holidays (Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation 1951), p. 3-4 — as preface to a number of readings selected by Mordecai Kaplan, Eugene Kohn, and J. Paul Williams for the day. . . .
Contributed by: Albert Einstein, Aharon N. Varady (transcription)
In a poignant reflection on human limitation and the role of religion, Albert Einstein (1879-1955) consoled two rabbis each grieving the painful loss of their children. The first letter dated 12 February 1950, drafted in German before its translation into English, was written for Rabbi Robert S. Marcus after the death of the rabbi’s eleven-year-old son, Jay, from polio in September 1949. The second letter, dated 4 March 1950, was written for Rabbi Norman Salit after the death of Salit’s sixteen-year-old daughter, Miriam. Einstein’s letter to Rabbi Salit borrowed from and expanded upon the composition of his letter to Rabbi Marcus. In a few short lines, the letter expresses Einstein’s opinion on the prison-like delusion of consciousness — and the work of “true” religion to escape this prison through the intentional expansion of compassion beyond one’s self. . . .
Contributed by: Avraham Samuel Soltes, Aharon N. Varady (transcription)
A prayer for the continuance of “the American way of life” offered during the Cold War (1947-1953) in northern New Jersey. . . .
Contributed by: Unknown, Aharon N. Varady (transcription)
A prayer for the government for the royal family of the Netherlands and the city council of Amsterdam copied in the late 19th and mid-20th century from earlier sources. . . .
Contributed by: the Aronin Family, Ben Aronin, Aharon N. Varady (transcription)
The poem, “Psalm of Gratitude” by the Jewish poet and educator, Ben Aronin. . . .